'He knows everything about everyone' - KL Rahul opens up on playing under MS Dhoni, reveals secret behind CSK captain's success

KL Rahul & MS Dhoni (Source: Twitter)

Having won all Cricket Governing Body trophies so far (ODI and T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy, and the Test Mace), Mahendra Singh Dhoni is regarded as one of the greatest captains in the history of cricket. It is not only because of these achievements that he is in the elite list of skippers, but his calm presence and the way he builds rapport with each player in the team makes him unique from others and makes the players love to play under him.

The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain is often seen conversing with young players eager to learn from the master after each of their games in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Under Dhoni's leadership, several players made their international debut, former Test vice-captain KL Rahul being one of them. The 31-year-old now opened up about playing under Dhoni for India and revealed many things he learned from him.

“MS Dhoni was my first captain. I've seen how he has handled the team, the calmness and the things that he does behind the scenes. Building the relationship with each person is something I've learnt from him. You need to build a relationship where these boys will fight for you, and with you,” Rahul told YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia.

He's not just calm; he's very balanced in everything: Rahul on Dhoni

The Lucknow Super Giants captain said that the 41-year-old is very calm on the field but also balanced in everything he does. Rahul further said that Dhoni knows everything about each player, which is what makes him such a great leader.

"He's very simple in his approach, what you see is what you get. Even on the field, he is very calm. It's not just that he's being that way. He's very balanced in everything that he does. He has ways of building a relationship with each person. The bond that he creates... he has his own way. And he will know what's happening with each individual, personally and in his game. He knows everything about everybody, and that's what made him such a great leader," he said.

“He said this to me a lot of times... trust your gut as a captain. That's something he did, as a leader and as a person in general. The first thought that you get, you always question it, but he never questioned it. If he had a gut feeling about a certain thing, he would never try to question it or second-guess it. He did it, whether it went well or didn't go well. That's what helped him in a lot of ways. That's why he was unorthodox in a lot of ways, people didn't understand at the time but he trusted his gut feeling. That's why he got results too,” the wicket-keeper batter added.